Revision of ETAD Information Notice 6

The ETAD Information Notice 6 on the restrictions on the marketing and use of azo colourants has been updated accordingly to the introduction of the European Directive 2002/61/EC and subsequent amendments. The updated version has been added to our web site directory Information Notices.

ETAD's REACH activities

The new European Chemicals regulation (REACH) was adopted in December 2006. REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals. REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and Directive 2006/121/EC amending Directive 67/548/EEC were published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2006.

REACH has come into force on 1 June 2007. Enterprises which manufacture or import more than one ton of a chemical substance per year will be required to register it in a central database administered by the new EU Chemicals Agency. The Agency will provide IT tools and guidance and Member States will offer helpdesk assistance to the impacted companies.

ETAD has installed two working groups which give guidance on the management of colorants, where RAC and POC members address the particular requirements of dyes and organic pigments, respectively.
Model registrations for C. I. Disperse Orange 30 and C.I. Pigment Red 112 served as case studies for each category.

Background: About 5000 Colorants (both organic pigments and dyes) and as many intermediates will be affected by this sweeping regulation.

Objectives: ETAD as an ethical supplier of colorants supports the objectives of this regulation but tries to achieve this goal by cost effective generation and sharing of data. In particular:
Reduced testing costs can be achieved by advocating that data requirements should be proportionate to the potential exposure levels.
Reduced administrative costs will result by sharing practical aspects of the REACH implementation.
Elaboration of a specific contract for the formation of consortia, tailored on the exigencies and characteristics of the dyes and pigments industry.

For further information concerning ETAD`s REACH activities please contact reach@etad.com .

Status: Close cooperation with CEFIC, DG Enterprise and ECB and ECHA.
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Atkins Report

The Final Report "Categorisation of Organic Pigments", a collaboration between Atkins Environment, Uk, Environment Agency, UK and ETAD has been published and can be found in our Database.

New position papers

The new document "ETAD comments on proposals for revision of the criteria for the EU Ecolabel for textile products" has been added to our web site directory Position and Comments.